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Budgeting 
How much does a typical Minnesota wedding cost?

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Many brides and grooms like to at least have a rough idea of how much things cost before they go shopping. These "average prices" can be extremely difficult to obtain because so many wedding vendors don't want to give out hard numbers.

I've coordinated and officiated over 400 wedding ceremonies in the Twin Cities metro area over the last decade, and here are the facts and figures I've usually come across in budgeting weddings. Also included are facts and figures from personal interviews and research.  

Chance of a rained-out wedding in Minnesota

• Change a Minnesota wedding will be rained out: 4%

  • Of the over 400 Minnesota wedding ceremonies I've coordinated and officiated, about 100 were outdoors, and only 4 were rained out, necessitating a move move indoors. A disproportionate amount of Minnesota weddings are on Saturday afternoon in warm weather. Since rain in summer afternoons tends to come in short, intense, localized thunderstorms, outdoor wedding ceremonies in Minnesota rarely rain out. It's a good idea to have a rain location, but they don't usually rain out.

Number of wedding guests for a Minnesota wedding
Source: Bridal Association of America

• Average size of a wedding:169 guests

  • FYI, the largest wedding I've ever performed:500 guests

  • Smallest:2 guests

Facts and figures
Source: The Bridal Association of America

• Average engagement period - A little over a year

  • Note - I've found that couples often postpone their wedding ceremony when they find that it usually takes 12 months notice to rent a site

• Location

  • Church weddings - 50%

  • Outdoor weddings - 35%

  • Other (hotel, mansion, reception site, country club, private home):22%

  • The figures add up to more than 100% because sometimes two answers are checked in the surveys e.g. outdoor wedding at a reception site

• Types of weddings
  The following statistics are from the Bridal Assoc. of America and I have added notes from my experience following each figure

  • Traditional - 60%

    • I think this statistic is much higher in Minnesota

  • Casual - 20% 

    • In my opinion, this term means anything from a potluck picnic to 20 guests at a fancy restaurant. This figure seems about right, in my experience.

  • Unique - 20% 

    • I interpret this term as including Renaissance-themed weddings, beach weddings in Jamaica, or anything else that doesn't fall into traditional categories. In my experience, Minnesota weddings don't fall into this category as often as the 20% national average listed here.

• Who helps pay for the wedding

  • Bride and Groom pay part or all - 77%

  • Bride's parents pay part or all - 58%

  • Groom's parents pay part or all - 32%

• Average cost of a wedding

  • $28,000 (that's with 169 guests, $55/plate dinner, and an open bar at $30 per guest. Costs go dramatically up or down, depending on those 3 variables)

    • Biggest expense - Dinner, which is half the cost (see below)

    • Biggest avoidable expense - Open bar (see next paragraph)

The biggest avoidable expense in a Minnesota wedding: Cash bar vs. Open bar
Source: Michael Sturm, Manager of Pizza Luce

• Option 1 - Cash bar:   No cost to the host

• Option 2 - Open bar: $30 per guest

  • An open bar at most high-end Minnesota reception halls usually costs the hosts $3-5/drink

  • Some guests drink more, some less, but at a typical Minnesota wedding it usually averages out to 1.5-2 drinks per guest

  • If the wedding starts at 4 pm and the cocktail hour starts at 4:30 pm and goes till midnight (with the last call at 11:30 pm), that's about 7 hours.1.5-2 times $3-5 times 7 = Over $30/guest

• Option 3 - Bring your own alcohol to serve to your guests (only a few reception halls allow this option)

  • $13-$17 per guest

  • In Minnesota, beer kegs usually cost about $100 and serve 100 drinks, and "handle jugs" of whiskey, gin, rum, spiced rum, and vodka cost about $35 and serve about 35 drinks. So bringing your own alcohol costs the host of a Minnesota wedding about $1 per drink.

  • Some Minnesota wedding guests drink more, some less, but it usually averages out to 1.5-2 drinks per guest

  • If the wedding starts at 4 pm and the cocktail hour starts at 4:30 pm and goes till midnight (with a last call at 11:30 pm), that's about 7 hours.1.5-2 times $1 times 7 = $10-$14 per guest

  • Note that most wedding reception halls charge a fee of $3-$4 per guest to serve the alcohol, bringing the total up to $13-$17 per guest

Average wedding dinner costs per person in Minnesota
Source: Jennifer Johnson, Heartstrings Event Planning 

• Minnesota wedding reception hall rental fee: Ranges from $800-$5,000

• Cost of a wedding dinner in Minnesota, per person:$28 is usually the lowest quote, with $55 being the national average, and prices can go to $100.Even though $28 is usually the lowest, I have seem some places, such as the Ideal Hall in St Paul that go down to $10/person, though.

  • A sit-down dinner costs less than a buffet dinner 

    • Reason: With a sit-down dinner, the caterer knows exactly how much food to make

  • A buffet dinner costs less than just serving hors d'oeuvres 

    • Reason: If there is no dinner, guests usually eat so many hors d'oeuvres that it gets very expensive 

    • Reason: Hors d'oeuvres take a long time to make and are made out of pricey ingredients

  • These fees include napkin, silverware, and the other assorted charges

Average Minnesota wedding coordinator prices
Source: Jennifer Johnson, Heartstrings Event Planning 

• The average price charged by a Minnesota wedding coordinator is 10%-20% of the budget, or $3000-$6000

Average Minnesota wedding cake prices:  
Source: Sophia Kiheri, Sweet Sophia's Cakes

• Average cost is $1.50-$3.50 per guest - Here's a more complete explanation

• A bakery will charge about $3.50 per guest

• If you use regular cakes instead of wedding cakes, the cost can get down to $.50 per guest, but most wedding reception halls price their services with the assumption that you'll use their catering for the wedding cake.So if you bring your own wedding cake, they charge a cake-cutting fee of a $1 per guest.

• Wedding cake slices are about 1" thick, or if it's a sheet cake, 1" x 2"

Average cost of wedding invitations in Minnesota 
Source: Costhelper

• $3-$10 per guest - Here's a more complete explanation

  • Invitation: $.70-$5.00

    • Invitation envelope: $.20-$.80

    • Invitation stamp: $.41

  • RSVP card: $.30-$.70

    • RSVP card envelope: $.20-$.80

    • RSVP card stamp: $.41

  • Thank-you card: $.30-$.70

    • Thank you card envelope - $.20-$.80

    • Thank you card stamp - $.41

  • Total:$3.13-$10.03

Average Minnesota wedding photographer prices
Source: Bridal Association of America and Costhelper

• Average cost of a Minnesota wedding photographer is $2238, according to the Bridal Assoc. of America

• Here's a more more complete explanation and more info and recommendations

Average Minnesota wedding flowers prices
Source: Bridal Association of America and Costhelper

• The average cost of wedding flowers in Minnesota is $698, according to the Bridal Assoc. of America

• Here's a more complete explanation

Average Minnesota wedding gown prices
Source: Bridal Association of America and Costhelper

• The Bridal Assoc. of America reports that the average price of a wedding gown in Minnesota is $1505, but Condé Nast Bridal Group's "American Wedding Study 2006" says the average price $800

• Here's a more complete explanation

Average Minnesota engagement ring prices
Source: Costhelper

• The average engagement ring price in Minnesota is traditionally one month's salary (not two).The reason behind this rule of thumb was, originally, to show that the man had enough money to support his wife.The jewelry business has fairly recently promoted their idea that two month's is appropriate.Here's the complete explanation.

Average Minnesota tuxedo rental prices

• About $150, once you include the shoes

• Costhelper and other websites do not give accurate price information for Minnesota, since very few Minnesota grooms or groomsmen buy a tuxedo - the vast majority simply rent them. In my opinion, the reason for Minnesotans choosing to rent tuxedos instead of buying them is because Midwest events are usually too informal to necessitate a purchase. Also, when tuxedos are required at a Minnesota event, they often have to match (like in a wedding) and then they'd have to be rented, anyway.  

• The exception to the usual practice of tux rental in Minnesota is when a groom is wearing a black suit. Sometimes black suits are rented (for about the same price as a tuxedo), and sometimes they're bought.

Most dramatic results for the lowest price

• In my opinion, chair covers make a surprisingly huge difference to the appearance of a wedding ceremony or wedding reception, for the very low cost about $2 per guest. If the standard chairs are not attractive, the contrast of before and after the use of seat covers can be astonishing - for some pretty remarkable examples, see this page from the UK. I highly recommend Minnesota's own Heartstrings Chair Covers at 952-974-0073.

Many thanks to Patrick Fitzgerald of D'Amico Catering, Jennifer Johnson of Heartstrings, Michael Sturm of Pizza Luce, Sophia Kiheri of Sweet Sophia's Cakes, and the Bridal Association of America for these facts and figures.

 

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